Getting startedConnect to your Plex server
HeadStage plays music and audiobooks from Plex Media Server. You’ll need a Plex account with access to a server, and an audio library on that server. Keep the server running while you browse, stream or download.
- On the sign-in screen, choose Plex.
- Tap Sign in with Plex. A browser window opens for Plex sign-in and authorisation.
- Finish signing in, then return to HeadStage.
- If more than one server is available, choose the one you want. With a single server, HeadStage connects to it automatically.
HeadStage checks the server’s available connections, including local and remote connections, and tries a Plex Relay connection if a direct connection isn’t reachable. Listening away from home depends on your server’s connectivity.
Connect manually
If you already have a server address and token, tap Connect Manually with Token. Enter your Plex Server URL and X-Plex-Token, then tap Connect to Server. Treat the token like a password.
Switch servers
Open Menu → Settings → General. If your account has more than one discovered server, use Plex Server to choose another.
Set up your libraries
HeadStage reads Plex audio libraries. In Plex, both music and audiobooks need to be stored in a music-type library; HeadStage then decides which audio view to use.
Libraries with “audiobook” or “audio book” in the name are recognised as audiobooks. Audiobook agents and scanners, including Audnexus, can also help HeadStage identify them.
If a library appears in the wrong place, open Menu → Settings → General → Plex Audio Libraries. Set that library to Music or Audiobooks. This changes how HeadStage presents it.
Use Library or the menu to open a library. You can also choose a Default Library in General settings.
Listen to music
Open a music library and choose an album to see its tracks. Tap a track to play it. The mini player stays available as you browse; tap it to open the full player.
Decide what plays next
Long-press a song, album or playlist and choose Play Next to put it next in the queue, or Add to Queue to put it at the end. In the player’s queue view you can reorder, remove or shuffle upcoming tracks, clear the queue, or save it as a playlist while connected to Plex.
Lyrics and sleep timer
Tap Lyrics in the player to look for lyrics. HeadStage uses LRCLIB to find timed or plain lyrics, so results depend on what’s available and require an internet connection.
The music player also has a sleep timer. Choose a duration or stop at the end of the track; an active timer can be extended or turned off.
Sonic Radio and Autoplay
While connected to Plex, Sonic Radio can build a queue from tracks similar to the one you’re playing. Sonic Autoplay can add similar tracks when the queue ends. These use similarity results supplied by your Plex server; if it returns no matches, there may be nothing to add.
Playlists and folders
Open Playlists to browse the audio playlists on your Plex server. You can play or shuffle them, or add them to the queue.
Create a playlist in a folder
- Tap + in Playlists.
- Enter a Playlist Name.
- In Folder (Optional), enter a folder name or choose an existing one.
- Tap Create.
You can also open an existing folder and tap +; its name will already be filled in.
How folders work with Plex
HeadStage uses the first full stop in a playlist’s name to separate its folder from its title. For example, Years.2025 appears as a playlist called 2025 inside Years. In other Plex clients, you may see the full name Years.2025.
To move a regular playlist, long-press it and choose Move to Folder, then choose an existing folder. Choose No Folder (Root) to take it out. Moving a playlist changes its name on your Plex server. A full stop in an existing playlist name can also cause HeadStage to show it in a folder.
Smart playlists can be played and queued, but HeadStage doesn’t offer the same move and delete controls for them. Deleting a regular playlist removes it from Plex, rather than just hiding it in HeadStage.
Album and audiobook collections
Collections group whole albums or full audiobooks, rather than the individual tracks in a playlist. They belong to the Plex library containing those albums or books.
- While connected to Plex, open an album or audiobook and open its menu.
- Choose Add to Collection.
- Select an existing collection, or choose New Collection… and give it a name.
To browse your collections, open Playlists and switch to Collections. Open a collection to see its albums or audiobooks.
You can remove an album or book from a collection without deleting it from your library. Collection membership is saved on your Plex server.
Listen to audiobooks
Open an audiobook library and choose a book. Its detail page shows chapters, listening progress and remaining time. Plex albums become books in HeadStage, and their tracks become the chapter list.
Start playback from the book or choose a chapter. The full audiobook player has skip controls, a seek bar and playback speeds from 0.5× to 3×.
HeadStage keeps a local record of your position and sends chapter progress to Plex when connected. Progress recorded offline is queued to sync when the connection returns. Other clients may present Plex’s chapter progress differently.
The book menu includes Mark as Read and Mark as Unheard. Marking a book unheard resets its listening progress, so use it when you want to start again.
Download for later
While connected to your server, open an album or audiobook and tap its download icon. For a single song, long-press the track on the album page and choose Download Track. Let the items you want finish downloading before you go offline.
Downloaded audio can play from your device when the server isn’t available. Browsing playlists and changing items on Plex still need a server connection.
In Menu → Settings, the Downloads tab shows storage use and lets you delete all downloads. The Transfers tab shows active and queued downloads. Removing a download deletes the local copy, not the original on Plex.
Smart Downloads
In the Downloads tab, turn on Smart Downloads, select a music library and choose a storage limit. This keeps a random selection of music available offline within the chosen limit.
Adjust the sound
Open Menu → Settings → Audio for the Headstage Studio DSP Engine. You can change the controls while a track plays, so it’s easy to listen to the difference.
- Stereo Widening: adjust Stage Width to spread the stereo image. Bass Focus keeps frequencies below 135 Hz centred.
- Binaural Crossfeed: blend a little of each channel into the other for a speaker-like sound on headphones. Try Nearfield, Studio BS2B or Deep Stage.
- Harmonic Warmth: add tube and tape-style saturation, then adjust Saturation Drive.
- Dynamic Loudness Contour: adjust bass and high-frequency detail for quieter listening.
- Anti-Clip Headroom Limiter: make room for boosts and help keep loud peaks from clipping.
- Parametric Equalizer: adjust five EQ bands or choose a Target Curve / Preset, including headphone and output profiles.
- Per-Device Auto-Switch: remember the DSP setup for each audio output.
The soundstage monitor shows the current stereo image. Headstage Signature applies a preset setup; Bypass All resets the processing controls to a flat setup.
Change the appearance
Open Menu → Settings → General → Theme. Choose a mode — Light, Classic, Dark or Night — and an accent colour. The mode is chosen in the app rather than following your phone’s light or dark setting.
General settings also include Dynamic Album Colors, which matches the album view’s background to its cover.
If something isn’t working
No servers appear after sign-in
Check that you signed in to the Plex account with access to your server. Confirm the server is running, then try signing in again. If browser sign-in times out, cancel it and start a new attempt.
The server won’t connect
Check that the server is reachable from your phone’s current network. Away from home, it needs a working remote or relay connection. For a manual connection, check both the server address and token.
A library is missing or looks like music
HeadStage reads Plex’s music-type audio libraries. Check the library type on your server, then use Plex Audio Libraries in General settings to choose Music or Audiobooks.
A download won’t play offline
Reconnect to the server and check that the download finished. A partly downloaded album or book may only have some tracks or chapters available. Check Transfers for items still waiting or downloading.
A playlist has appeared in a folder unexpectedly
Check its name for a full stop. HeadStage treats Folder.Playlist as a folder and playlist name. Moving it to No Folder (Root) removes that folder prefix from the name saved in Plex.
